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Alex Hutton Trio, Songs from the Seven Hills(33Jazz) 4 Stars
John Fordham The Guardian, Friday July 18 2008
Alex Hutton is a British pianist who once received the rare accolade of a generous tribute from the late Ronnie Scott - but since Scott died in 1996 and this is only Hutton's second album, it's evident that his career didn't boom. But Hutton went to study in New York in 1994, toured with the soul/jazz band Boy On a Dolphin, and then kept his head down in the UK as a sideman for anybody and everybody, including Jim Mullen, Guy Barker and Gilad Atzmon. Like Cross That Bridge, Songs from the Seven Hills has a narrative design rather than just being a string of tunes, and in this case it addresses the pianist's roots in the landscapes of his native Yorkshire (it's subtitled The Sheffield Suite), the punk-folk of the Stranglers, regular piano jazz, and English classical music. Though the leader is sometimes a little over-tempted in his solos by the descending triplet figures of McCoy Tyner, and a country-gospelly roll reminiscent of early Keith Jarrett colours his slow pieces, Hutton does justify Scott's faith in a scattering of improvisations that join an affectingly hooky melodic knack to a rich and freewheeling impressionism as his speculations open out. Hutton often favours the Esbjörn Svensson method of broaching a simple melody and progressively and hypnotically thickening it, and he's aided in this by the alert drumming of Enzo Zirilli and the dynamic bass-playing of expat American Michael Janisch. Janisch is Scott LaFaro-like in his countermelodic exchanges with Hutton on the initially spacey Surprise Corner, and his bowed playing is majestic on the tumbling, bell-pealing Seventh Hill. Hutton gets rhapsodic and Jarrett-like on the finale. It's a set that will stand high among UK jazz achievements at the year's end.
TINA MAY
Album: A Wing And A Prayer
Review by John Fordham, The Guardian:
Singer Tina May's understated chamber-group settings and soft ballads have not exactly grabbed the jazz public by the lapels. But while A Wing and a Prayer is a contemplative album, it's full of subtle activity. You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To, a duet with Stan Sulzmann, is a standout track, with May's sliding pitching and airy sound dancing around his Cool School-inflected phrasing.
Nikki Iles's piano is full of rich implications, subtle turns and mellow harmonies, and it's beautifully recorded: the deep resonances seem to come up through the floor. Iles slyly boogies alongside May on Who Can I Turn To?, while, on Black Narcissus, the pair are tied so close together that they sound like one instrument. But for fans of the orthodox romantic ballad, meticulously but freshly performed, it's a state-of-the-art exercise.
Review by Dave Gelly, The Observer:
Tina May and Nikki Iles have a rapport that takes a partnership between singer and pianist to a stage far beyond mere voice plus accompaniment. A distinctive atmosphere surrounds everything they do together, a kind of wistfulness, even at the liveliest moments.
They are joined here by saxophonist/flautist Stan Sulzmann, whose gentle but inquisitive playing provides the perfect complement. The absence of a conventional rhythm section throws the exquisite balance and needle-sharp timing of all three into sharp focus. The whole thing is a treat, but the title song, by Tina May and Kenny Wheeler, is quite outstanding.
